Voting eligibility may be subject to property, income, age, sex, race, literacy, residence or nationality qualifications; vote by proxy may be inadmissible. Voting qualifications sharpen social conflict, alienation and apathy.
Incidence:
In Europe and the USA there are in some places, property requirements for voting in local elections. However, residence requirements are more widespread currently than property requirements, being 6 months in France and 6 months to 2 years in the USA. Most countries with a democratic voting tradition and a high literacy rate have some provision for voting by proxy. The most common minimum voting age is 21, but in certain countries it is 18; in the Netherlands it is 23. Women may not vote in certain Latin American and Muslim countries. Literacy tests remain in five Latin American countries, the Philippines and a third of the states in the USA. Negroes have been prevented from voting in South Africa, and also, until recently (although only semi-legally), in the southern USA.